Big year for Belvidere-built Chryslers, but Dart is concern

BELVIDERE - When the Dodge Dart was introduced at the North American International Auto Show in 2012 one analyst said it might be the rare car to sell better in its third year than its first.

The Dart was the first compact sedan for Chrysler Group LLC since the Dodge Neon and it would be competing for buyers with such established entities as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus.

Well, it's year three for the Dart and results from the first two have been mixed.

In 2013, dealers in the U.S. sold 83,388 Darts. While that was more than triple the number sold in 2012 when it was on lots for about five months, the Dart ranked just ninth among compact sedans.

It wasn't just the Civic, Corolla and Focus outselling the Dart but offerings from relatively minor U.S. players like Mazda and Volkswagen topped it as well.

Alec Gutierrez, an auto analyst from California-based Kelley Blue Book, said he believes it's unlikely the Dart will ever challenge the segment leaders.

"Chrysler overestimated how much market share it could draw," Gutierrez said. "Now we're seeing updated versions of the competitors coming out such as the Mazda3, which is an outstanding car.

"Barring a major redesign, the Dart is about where it's going to be in this segment."

The Dart is built at Chrysler's Belvidere assembly plant along with the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. Those two models had record sales years in 2013 in the U.S., pushing sales of Belvidere-built models to their best year since 1996.

Still, Chrysler is on record with plans to discontinue production of the Compass and Patriot and replace it with one small SUV most likely to be built in Toledo, Ohio.

The models replacing the Jeeps likely will be different versions of the Dart, meaning the Dart's progress is watched closely in the Rock River Valley. The Chrysler assembly plant is the area's largest employer with about 4,500 workers.

Gutierrez said the sluggish sales for the Dart is likely the reason the company has said little about what will be built next in Belvidere.

"Chrysler isn't going to walk away from the investment it's made in Belvidere, but they are probably rethinking things," Gutierrez said. "To be fair, the company also has been a little distracted. Fiat just finished buying the last parts of the company from the (United Auto Workers).

"I believe now that that is out of the way you'll see a lot more activity with all of its products."